To Rue is To Regret
by YourLogicIsFlawless
Summary: "It's not that I'm incapable of feeling. It's just that emotions are messy, and I should have known when to cut mine off." How Chris went insane, and she brought him back. This is Clarisse's side of the story.
1. Anger Issues

**So here is "To Rue Is To Regret 2.0". My first attempt was just plan lousy so I'm here to give it another go. Also this is just going to be from Clarisse's point of view. And again if you haven't read Verge or Calamity Clarisse, GO READ THEM.**

~o~

_I don't think I knew what emotions were until he left. It's not that I'm incapable of feeling. It's just that emotions are messy, and I should have known when to cut mine off. I'm not here to sound cliché. Just to prove that even war is a little bit more complex than it seems._

~o~

Apparently there's a rumor going around that I am in fact an angry, psychotic, bitch. I like to think of the way I act as a way of expression, an art form if you will. Anyways I don't see how me slugging Will Solace in the face counts for anything the little ass wipe swung at me first anyways. It's not my fault he missed. I guess it's a given considering the whole Apollo cabin is a bunch of guitar playing, hippie, Ken dolls. Though I probably should have keep the thought to myself, in retrospect.

"Clarisse!" Speaking of ass wipes.

"Clarisse over here!" Just keep walking, act like you don't see her. "Claire! Clarisse!" Shit, shit, shit.

"Clar-EEEEZ! Clar-!"

"WHAT?"

"Good I finally caught up to you."

"Just peachy Silena, just fucking peachy."

Let me explain Miss Barbie Dream House here, otherwise known as Silena Beauregard Daughter of Aphrodite, she's just a typical no-substance girl who has every guy fawn over her and what she lacks in substance she makes up in designer perfume. She wears a lot of perfume. Nonetheless she is Aphrodite's daughter, so of course she's gorgeous. Am I jealous? Not a chance.

"Well?"

"Well what Beauregard?"

"Are you going to answer my question or not?" Fuck I forgot that was why she's been stalking me.

With that I began to walk away. Somehow she was able to keep up in her weird 4 ½ inch heels.

"You know, if you keep refusing to answer questions people will think you have something to hi-i-de." She said in her annoying I-just-got-barfed-on-by-a-Disney-Princess-voice.

"Whatever Beauregard, I need to go train. This is a waste of my time."

"But all you do is train Claire,'

'Don't call me that!'

'Don't you think you deserve a break?" Here we go.

"Why don't you and I have some girl time? That would be so fun!" Kill me now.

"Silena let me get something through your thick, thick, head, ok? I don't _like_ you and I never will _like _you so LEAVE ME ALONE." I almost felt bad when I saw the hurt placed so openly in her eyes, as I walked away.

Almost.

Besides, I was an Ares kid, daughter of the God of War, the _only_ daughter at the moment actually. Meaning I didn't have time for "girl time" with a petty Aphrodite girl. I had expectations to hold up, especially because I'm a girl. And if proving myself worthy means giving up the stereotypical lifestyle anyone of the female gender is expected to lead, whatever the hell that means, then by Hades I'll do it.

I was an Ares kid and Silena just needed to accept it. I'm violent, mean, and supposedly a total bitch when I want to be. So as much as Snow White tries to say otherwise.

I do not _like_ Chris Rodriguez.

~o~

**Honestly I think this is a bit better than the first one, though I'm still not satisfied. I hope you guys like it. I'll try and update within the course of a week for every chapter, but don't quote me on that.**


	2. Percy Jackson Can Kiss My Ass

**Here's chapter two of my redo, I hope its decent. On another note, it's confession time: I don't pre-write these I just sit at my computer for hours revising one copy and trying to come up with ideas. So please don't hate me for my lack of ability to be in the slightest bit professional.**

~o~

I don't think I've ever hated anyone in my life more than Percy Jackson. Or Prissy as I've come to know him. That good for nothing, I-cant-even-out-run-a-tree son of Poseidon always shows up at the last second to take all the fucking glory and it pisses me off. He doesn't even try and do the right thing he just so happens to be in the right place at the right time. Like when he just _had _to appear with his little band of misfits when the Colchis bulls attacked the border. Stupid son-of-a-bitch got to play hero _again_.

"Clarisse I don't know why you can't at least say thank you, I mean I saved your life and all."

"I could have gotten myself out of the way in time and you know it, Prissy." Not that I'll ever admit it, but maybe I wouldn't have.

"My name is Percy not Prissy." He said crossing his arms and giving me look that just screamed that he thought I was stupid. I did my level best to send the most hateful glare I could muster.

"Well I personally don't see much of a difference." It worked. I mentally high-fived myself when I saw him wince under my ruthless gaze. Ha, whose all-high-and-mighty now Jackson? He seemed to get over the fact that he wanted to piss himself fairly quickly, much to my displeasure, and just rolled his eyes at me. "Whatever Clarisse, just don't expect me to be around to save you next time."

I didn't answer him, as I walked away, I probably would have just decked him anyways. And I cant afford to get kitchen duty again after I just got off for slugging Will. Not my fault all the pansies at this camp deserve a good punch in the face, and since I couldn't do that I need to do the next best thing: rant. That's why I was headed to the back of the Hermes Cabin.

* * *

"Get up I need to rant." I said waking Chris with a swift kick to the ribs. He sat up groggily running his hands through his hair making it look absolutely ridiculous and whole lot messier.

"Good morning to you too Sunshine." He said, still clearly disorientated. "It's three in the afternoon, dumbass."

"Oh okay. Wait so why did you so rudely wake me up again?" He questioned.

"I need to rant, and it wasn't rude, it was effective." I stated matter-o-factly.

"You call kicking me in the ribs effective? There were about ten different, might I add nicer ways you could have woken me up."

"As much as your logic fascinates me, we're off topic here." I said, I was seriously getting impatient here.

"Okay shoot." That's what I like about Chris he's the only one at this gods-forsaken camp who even gives a shit about my opinion not to mention he's the only one who ever takes my side in anything what-so-ever.

And thus began my 10 minute rant on all the reasons why Percy Jackson could kiss my ass.

"...I mean and he thinks he just gets to prance around and own the place all because Luke decided to jump ship and he just so happened to bring back a lightning bolt he didn't even find!" As I finished I looked over at Chris waiting for his input.

"Dudes an asshole, I say we just kick his ass back to his mom's apartment and call it a day." This is exactly why we were friends. Everyone thought it was weird that a 14 year old daughter of Ares was friends with a freakishly tall, unclaimed 15 year old. But hey, screw the masses we had each others backs any day.

"But I do think you should get the wrist looked at." And then he's back to being annoying.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever I'll do it later, its just a sprain." That's when this kind of tense silence fell over us. We just didn't know what to say to each other anymore. It started happening ever since Silena "suggested" that I liked him. Like liked him. Like more than a friend. I just couldn't get it out of my head. And by the way he's been acting, I'm almost positive she's been harassing him about it too.

Just thinking about that girl makes me clench my teeth. She just _had_ to go and start stirring up rumors that weren't true. It was ruining Chris and my friendship. We only had each other.

Chris was friendly sure even if he was a little on the sarcastic side. But he was bitter, and that's what drove people away. I mean I would be too, if my dad still hadn't claimed me after 5 years. It was almost like he didn't want friends, like he wanted to be left alone by everybody. Except for me.

Me on the other hand, I wasn't friendly at all, and I had way too much in the sarcasm department. People just didn't like me in general. But I'd gotten used to the insults people would throw at me. I know I'm scary and headstrong and mean, but it still gets to me on some rare occasions.

Even I needed a friend sometimes and Chris always stepped up to the plate when I needed him, and I did the same for him. It was our system, and Silena had to go and fuck it up with her "Aphrodite senses". I can't fucking stand her.

All emotional, cliche thoughts aside, as I came back to reality I had the uncanny feeling of being watched. I looked up to see him starring at me with a blank expression on his face. I cocked an eyebrow at him when he brushed a piece of hair that had escaped my bandana behind my ear.

This was getting to weird for me.

I stood up quickly. "Thanks for listening to me even though I did kick you." I said with a smirk.

"No problem Claire bear its what I'm here for." He had that sarcastic smirk on his face now. "Don't call me that Rodriguez, I'll kick you again." I said with a gracious roll of the eyes.

"Never stopped me before, now get out of here I need my beauty sleep." He said as he lay back down shifting this way and that to get comfortable.

I smiled slightly and I rolled my eyes as I walked back to Cabin 5. That boy was something entirely in his own. It was refreshing considering all the unoriginal, ass wipes that are this camp.

He's annoying and all together a weirdo. He's my best friend.

~o~

**Well there it is. A bit longer than the first chapter, and hopefully a bit better. Tell me what you think in the reviews, I love feedback. Thanks so much to those of you who read this. I'm really trying my best at writing and I think I'm getting better at it. I hope Clarisse wasn't too OOC considering all the emotional crap I put in here. Oops. **


	3. The Breakfast Club

***Gasp* Sam's third update in three days?! Any second now the Earth will crash into the Sun because this ****_never_**** happens. Haha don't mind my weird humor. Well here's chapter three, and not to pat my own back or anything, but I'm really proud of myself for updating for three days straight. So here you go, I hope you like it!**

~o~

It's been two weeks and no one's noticed. Two weeks. _Two_ godsdamned weeks. After the first couble of days I was tempted to bring it up, to see if anybody noticed. But I knew he wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted people to have noticed on their own, not by me making a point to tell them about it. I thought about telling Chiron, but I decided against it because, really, what could he do now? The damage was already done. Chris Rodriguez was gone.

He had left. He actually left camp. He left me. We had never really talked about the "turning demigods" as we'd come to calling them, traitor just seemed to harsh to me. He'd never brought up any of the demigods that did leave, except Luke he came into the conversation every once-in-a-while. But still I never thought he would just _leave. _

I wasn't pissed because he left, no I could fully understand why he left. I'm not saying I agreed with it, but I still understood his reasoning. Being treated as a nobody, as an outcast, just because his parent was to arrogant to actually give a shit? If it were me I'd want some recognition too. I knew he was pissed at his dad for still having not claimed him after 5 years, but I never thought he'd switch sides on me. No I was pissed because he didn't take me with him. I was his best friend.

Sure I was loyal to Camp-Half Blood, I just can't stand most of the people here. I could tolerate my siblings most of the time. But I was still just a girl in their eyes. Absolutely nothing. And that's just the thing, they don't care or respect me either. I'm just the bully who's too stupid to know how to do anything other than fight. Nobody would of cared if I left, hell they'd probably celebrate it. I wouldn't have minded leaving, I didn't particularly like the idea of fighting against camp, but I guess I could live with it after a while.

It scared me, and that doesn't happen often. It scared me that he would do something rash or impulsive without thinking ahead. It scared me that I would even _consider _leaving camp. I just hope the idiot didn't get himself killed.

* * *

_'At least this gives me a chance to actually prove myself to Dad.' _I thought as I sailed on my newly owned Confederate War Ship; The CSS _Brimingham. _I knew I couldn't mess this up, that this was my father's test to me. This was where I had to show my worth, where I had to succeed. Failure was not an option.

Part of me said that the only reason I was on the quest instead of looking for Chris was because I had to prove myself to my father. But the right part of me knew that the real reason I accepted to quest was to renew myself. If I brought back the fleece, I wouldn't be hated anymore. It was as simple as that.

"M'lady, there seems to be a disturbance off the bay, a hydra we think." The Captain of this infernal deathtrap informed me.

"We don't have time for rest stops, you know that. Full speed ahead!" I shouted at the engine room.

The "Captain" was looking nervous. "Well yes but we think there are some stranded demigods that are in trouble...shouldn't we..help?" This guy is seriously the most wussy, timid Army Captain I have every seen. No wonder I don't know his name. Wait a second did he say, demigods?

That stupid little band of misfits is going to be the death of me.

"Fine pull in! But we better be in and out in ten minutes tops or I will personally have my father curse you to eternal torture!" I shouted. That sure got them moving. Huh. Duly noted.

As we pulled in to Chesapeake Bay the only thing I heard was a strangled "_What?!_" from Prissy before I started screaming orders. "There! Prepare the thirty-two pounder!"

"They're two close, m'lady!" That fucking Captain, I swear to gods.

"Gods damn it! Full steam ahead!" I yelled out.

Gravely, the Captain said "Aye, m'lady."

"Fire at will Captain!"

It was a good thing Princess was so smart, or else the Jackson entourage would have been blown up along with that gods-forsaken Hydra. I watched as Chase, Jackson, and the Cyclopes looked up in awe at the warship that just saved their sorry lives.

I sneered an rolled my eyes. "Idiots." I said. With a sigh I said some thing I knew I would regret. "Come aboard."

* * *

As Prissy and his "gang" finished up a tour, I did not want to give at all, I couldn't help but smile as I realized how much trouble the were in. Tantalus would not be happy with them. And I personally had no problem sharing.

"You are in _so_ much trouble." I smirked. "Tantalus expelled you for eternity. Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV." I was feeling smug so-to-speak.

"Did _they_ give you this ship? Prissy so blindly asked.

"'Course not. My father did." I stated. Seriously how stupid was he, where would camp get a confederate warship?

"_Ares?_" I seriously cannot think of any one in the world I would enjoy punching in the face more. I sneered at him, his ignorance is quite insulting. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you captain?

"Captain" continued to look depressed and wussy and just gravely stated. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone." I liked the sound of that.

The rest of the conversation did not go as smoothly so to speak. Prissy and Chase just had to go on a rant about how I was being set up to fail and what not. Bullshit, I could do this.

"No! I don't care what the Oracle-" Shit I shouldn't have said that. "What did the Oracle say Clarisse?" Jackson pressed. "It doesn't matter, I'm finishing the quest on my _own _and that's that!" With that said I had the Captain escort the breakfast club below deck to be assigned hammocks for the night. With them gone I had time to think now. Specifically about the matter at hand. The quest.

In my head I relayed what the Oracle had told me; my prophecy.

_ You shall sail the iron ship, with warriors of bone_

_ You shall find what you seek and make it your own _

_ But despair for your life, entombed with in stone _

_ And fail without friends, to fly home alone._

The first line already made sense, I was on an iron ship full of zombies. I shall find what I seek sounded pretty good to me, it meant I would succeed. But make it my own? I guess that could mean that I was really just going on the quest to prove myself. Not that I'd ever admit that out loud. The third line scared my a little bit more than I cared to admit though. I mean despair for my life? That's pretty straightforward if you ask me. But then again it also says 'fly home alone' so obviously I live, right? I was no daughter of Athena but I'm pretty sure I had this prophecy almost figured out. The only part that troubled me was 'fail without friends'. Because I was pretty sure I knew exactly who those "friends" were.

And I wanted nothing to do with them.

~o~

**There it is! I'm trying to make these as long as possible so I hope it's satisfactory. I'm sure some of you will notice that I used most of the dialogue from "The Sea of Monsters" there was really know way around that considering it was just me re-telling the scene in Clarisse's POV, so please don't hate me for that I tried to make it as original as possible. You should expect the same for the next chapter as well though *Hint**Hint*. I hope you like this, because I'm pretty okay with it. I love hearing what you think!**


	4. Not So friendly Bob the Builder

**So here's chapter four, I'm so sorry for how late this is! I have EOG's and EOC's all this week and a little next week so its hard for me to update. Trust me this has taken me more that three days to write. On another note, I'd like to announce that I have finally mapped out where the rest of this story goes. Yaaay, we finally have a plot! I tried to make the dialogue as similar to the book as possible, but it's still changed around a bit. Sorry about that.****  
**

~o~

I woke up to Captain What's-his-name shaking my shoulder with much more force than necessary. I don't think he likes me that much. Oh well that's his fucking problem not mine. I quickly dismissed this from my mind because something the captain had said caught my immediate attention. We had arrived at the entrance.

Sea of Monsters here we come.

As I walked out of my temporary home, I passed the boiler room. Something there made me stop dead in my tracks. An Iris message was forming. At first I thought, hoped, it was Chris. Calling to tell me he was alright. The hope quickly vanished from my mind when I saw who was trying to contact me. It was the last person I wanted to hear from.

It was my Dad.

When I said the children of Ares were mean and violent and bloodthirsty. I was in no way describing my father. He was ten times worse. Cold, arrogant, war-crazy, and all over just filled to the brim with malice. As much as I hated to admit it, he terrified me. I knew that none of my brothers were scared of him, sure they weren't his best friends, but they didn't mentally cower in fear at the mere thought of their own father. Guilty as charged.

"Get over here, girl." He said, sneering at me. I quickly walked over to the Iris Message. _Back straight, chin up, shoulders back._ I reminded myself.

"Hi...Dad." I said, somehow managing not to stutter. He wasn't buying it. "I hear you let Jackson on the ship. You gonna let him steal this quest out form under you _Clarisse?" _

"No, I can handle this. He's just here as a passenger, nothing more." I said in one hurried breath. Then I heard a noise, it was small and barley noticeable. Almost like foot steps. But I was too preoccupied to let it bother me.

"I don't want excuses, little girl!" He yelled, practically growling. This was not going to end well.

"Y-yes, Dad," I mumbled. So much for seeming brave.

"You don't want to see me mad, do you?" What was this, his happy side? "No father." I said, a bit louder this time.

"_No, father," _He was mocking me. And it fucking stung. "You're pathetic. I should have let one of my _sons_ take this quest." Way to rub salt in the wound Dad.

"I'll succeed, I promise!" Shit, my voice was trembling now. "I'll make you proud." I finished

"You'd better," He was warning me now. "You asked me for this quest, if you let that little fuck Jackson steal it form you-" Without thinking, I cut him off.

"But the Oracle said-" I hurriedly cut in. "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT FUCKING SAID!" He screamed, making the message physically move. I wonder if anybody could hear this right now. Gods I hoped not. "You will succeed. And if you don't..." Now his fist was raised, I flinched again'st my will, trying to suppress some of the memories.

"Do we have an understanding?" He was growling again. Before I could respond, he disconnected the message. I nodded anyways. As I came back to the situation at hand, I heard the alarm bells ring. I needed to go.

As I came up on the deck I saw Jackson and his little friends on the deck already. I also noticed how Jackson refused to look at me. What's his problem? I shrugged it off and grabbed the binoculars, from one of the officers, and I stared at the horizon line.

"At last. Captain, full steam ahead." Everything was going according to schedule, well except for the unwanted _guests _I was forced to take aboard. The only thing I needed to take care of now was Charybdis. That may be a bit more challenging with the way the weather was acting. It was humid and misty over the sea. I could see Charybdis off in the distance and I couldn't help the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. But now was know time for being nervous, because I could do this, I had no choice.

I began giving orders to the Captain to increase our speed when everybody's "favorite" brain child decided to speak up.

"Is that a Hurricane?" She asked. Huh, that's surprising I would have thought Princess would have known where we were.

"No, Charybdis." I said. I saw the color drain out of her face. "Are you insane?" _ Maybe a little,_ I thought to myself.

"It's the only way into the Sea of Monsters, we have to go straight through Charybdis and Scylla." I stated, pointing to the cliffs on the boats left side.

"What do you mean, the only way? The sea is huge! Just go around." Gods this kid is stupid. I rolled my eyes at him. "Do you actually know anything about Greek Mythology? If we sailed around, they would appear again and again until we went through."

Annabeth decided to speak up again. "And the Clashing Rocks? That's the other way in, Jason used it." I didn't tell her this, but I had not thought of that one. To late now I guess, we're already at the entrance.

"Well, I can't blow them up with canons, but monsters I can." I said quickly. Not my best cover story but still, they bought it. "You _are_ insane." Chase oh-so bluntly stated.

"Sit back and watch, Princess." I smirked while turning to the Captain. "Set course straight for Charybdis!" I ordered. The Captain looked increasingly nervous as he answered me.

"Aye, m'lady." That's when Mr. Head-up-his-ass spoke up yet again.

"Hey Clarisse, Charybdis swallows up the sea. That's the story isn't it?" Yes dumbass, it is. Glad your finally catching on.

"And then spits it back, yes."

"And Scylla?"

"She lives in the cliffs. We can't get to close or she'll pluck each of us off the ship.

"Then let's choose Scylla," Jackson oh-so-ignorantly said. "Then we all go below deck, and sail by. That way everybody's safe."

"We can't do that!" I insisted sharply. "When Scylla doesn't get easy prey, she'll pick the whole ship up. Anyways, she's to far up and I can't shoot her, the canons don't fire straight up. Charybdis, on the other hand, is an easy target, she just sits in the middle of her whirlpool. We just sail straight to her, train the guns, and blow her to Hades!" I said, with relish in my voice. Jackson looked like he almost believed me.

Throughout or conversion, Tyson that gods forsaken Cyclopes, was muttering about the engines. It was beginning to worry me, I could feel the deck heating up under me. I hoped the ship would last just a few more minutes. I needed it to last.

As we sailed closer, Charybdis kept getting louder and louder, until the only thing I could hear was the huge roar of the monster I was attempting to blow up. No pressure or anything.

That's something people don't understand about me, or the Ares kids in general. We get nervous and anxious about the same things as everyone else. Hell, we get scared when we fight monsters too. Not that we'll ever admit it. It's not that we don't feel it, it's that we are expected not to show it. Our father is fearless, and he expects us to uphold this image of him, being his kids and all. What's expected of us and who we are, are two totally different things.

"Annabeth is right. Engines no good." The Cyclopes said, as I tuned back into reality.

"What do you mean?" Princess asked. "Pressure. Pistons need fixing." Oh shit. We might not make it. Just then the ship lurched forward sharply as Charybdis began to suck in the ocean once again.

No time for the engines now, we had to act. "Full Reverse!" I screamed, desperately hoping to be heard by the crew over the noise. "Get us to firing range, ready the starboard canons!"

Thankfully the crew heard me as they began running around, trying to complete the instructions as quickly as possible. But it wasn't working. As fast as the ship was reversing, Charybdis was sucking us in faster. That's when one of the sailors ran to me, his Confederate uniform smoking.

"The boiler room, its overheating ma'am! She's gonna blow any second!" He panted out. Seriously how stupid were these sailors.

"Get down there and fix it then gods dammit!" I screamed.

"We can't, we're all being vaporized in the heat!" Well, fuck. I pounded the side of the ship with my fist in anger. "I only need a few minutes, only enough to get in range!" That's when everybody's favorite captain showed up.

"We're moving far too fast. Prepare for death." He said grimly. That's when the Cyclopes spoke up.

"No wait! Tyson can fix!" He said desperately pointing at himself, as if I didn't know he was Tyson. I looked at him unbelievably. "You?"

"Tyson's a Cyclopes. He's immune to fire and he knows mechanics." Chase said over the roars of Charybdis. That was enough information for me.

"Go!" I yelled at him. Then fucking Jackson had to try and intervene. Hades, he was stupid.

"Tyson, don't! Its way too dangerous!" He said grabbing his arm. Didn't he realize if Tyson didn't fix the engines, the ship would blow up? Tyson just patted his hand and said, "Only way. Tyson will fix it, be right back." And with that he ran to the engine room as the ship lurched again. Charybdis was in view now.

The monster was only about 500 yards away from the ship, she was barely visible through the smoke and water being thrown around in the spin of the whirlpool. As I looked at her more, I saw probably the most terrifying thing I had every seen. Charybdis looked like a huge black, coral reef with just about everything thrown into it. There were pieces of ships and dead see animals all thrown in between what I took to be her teeth. I saw all the water around us get swallowed in by her huge jaws, followed by the sea life that was unfortunate enough to get caught in her path. Then to my horror, I realized, that we were next.

"The captain then shouted to me that the guns were in place. "Fire!" I shouted at him. Three ear shattering blasts were fired at the monster's jaws. One gave her a chipped tooth, the other disappeared into her gut, and the other flew back at us, snapping the flag for Ares off its pole. Dad would not be happy about that.

"Again!" I screamed. As the gunners reloaded I knew it was hopeless. I had underestimated the monsters power. _Shit._ I thought. Then, suddenly, the deck began cooling down. Holy shit the Cyclopes did it.

"Tyson did it!" Princess said. No shit we didn't notice. "Wait, we need to stay as close as possibly." I said

"We'll die! We need to move!" Jackson screamed at me. Fuck no Perseus, it ain't gonna go down like that. Then, I remembered that this was not the place to get into a fist fight. Lives were on the line here.

Miraculously, The Cyclopes was able to keep the _CSS Brimingham_ from drifting any closer to the monster. But we sure as hell weren't moving back, and I knew we couldn't keep this up forever. Suddenly, the sea went silent as Charybdis' mouth closed. Then just when I was about to let my guard down, the mouth opened again, and we were right where we started.

The ship was thrown backward on a huge wave, at least fifty feet. It was amazing how the ship hadn't capsized by now. The next thing I knew a sailor rammed into me, nearly taking both of us overboard. "Watch it!" I yelled, as I managed to maneuver us away from the railing of the ship.

"The engine, it's gonna blow!" The sailor yelled at no one in particular. That's when "Mother Theresa" decided to jump into overly protective brother mode.

"Is Tyson okay? Where is he?" Jeez Jackson, did you lose your kid in a store or something? "He's still down there, somehow he's still holding it together." The sailor panted out.

"We have to leave. It's time to abandon ship." The captain said in his overly depressing voice. Seriously this guy was laying it on a bit thick.

"No way!" I yelled. I was so close. I just needed time. "We have to, Miss La Rue. The hull is splitting apart, we haven't got a choi-" The captain never finished his sentence as he was lifted in the air.

Scylla had caught him.

"It's Scylla!" A random sailor screamed. No shit Sherlock. Percy un-capped his dumb sword nobody knows the name of, and tried, but failed, to slice off Scylla's heads. "Everyone get below deck!" He yelled over Charybdis and screaming sailors. Here he goes playing hero again. And he seriously wonders why I hate him.

I rolled my eyes. "We can't do that, its in flames." I said, as I drew me own sword. That's when Blondie decided to actually start thinking again. "Everyone get to the lifeboats! Quickly!" She said.

I rolled my eyes again, it seemed to be a very prominent trend with me.

"No that won't work, they'll never clear the cliffs, we'll be eaten." I never said it was a good idea. "We have to try at least, Percy give me the thermos!" That girl can't stand to be proven wrong.

"But I can't leave Tyson." He is such a Drama Queen. He just needs to learn when to cut his losses, however painful it may be. Meanwhile Jackson and his little girlfriend seemed to be having a "couple fight".

"Perseus Jackson, get in the boat, we need to get them ready!" With that me and some sailors began uncovering one of the life boats, trying to avoid Scylla to the best of our abilities.

"No I'm not leaving Tyson!" He said, and began running to the boiler room. "You can't survive down there, you'll be burned alive!" Before Jackson could reply, he was snatched by his back-pack by Scylla. Scylla had grabbed him right as everyone had gotten in the life boat, and it was being lowered down. Annabeth screamed at him. But I doubt he could hear with the wind howling in his ears. Then to my surprise, and his stupidity, he cut off Scylla's head an began falling back towards the sea just as the life boat had almost meet the ocean. That's when the ship blew up.

And that's when I flew out of the boat.

* * *

I knew I was in pretty deep shit when I woke up in the middle of the ocean in a life boat. By myself. Which is what confused me because I was pretty sure I'd flown out of the life boat when the ship exploded. Then I remembered. After I had gotten thrown into the ocean, the second life boat, full of dead confederates, had gotten dropped onto the water. Half of them had gotten caught by Scylla on the way down. So when they saw me in the water, the remaining five pulled me onto the boat. But I couldn't for the life of me remember what had happened after that. My guess is that Scylla picked them off, and I just got lucky. And now I was floating in the middle of the ocean with nothing but the covering for the boat, an oar, and my sword.

Count the small blessings I suppose.

I ended up making a shitty looking sail out of the covering. It would have to do. As for the oar I put that off to the side, in case worst-came-to-worst. As for my sword, it was basically useless right now, so that went off to the side too. With my pitiful inventory taken, I searched for something productive to do. Finding none, I decided to sleep and see what the hell would happen next. With that I climbed under the weak bit of shade given by the sail, and laid my jacket over my exposed face and shoulders. I knew I couldn't afford being exposed in the sun for a long time, especially since I sunburned way to easily.

After that my track of time flew out the window, unfortunately it left my basic human needs behind. Including dehydration and hunger. I wasn't sure how long it had been since the explosion, it could have been hours, or days. Probably not weeks, I wouldn't be alive if that were the case. I knew I wasn't supposed to, but the sea water was looking really inviting right now. My tongue felt swollen and dry in my mouth and my stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself. In the back of my mind I vaguely wondered if Prissy and Blondie were okay. The thought didn't last long as I drifted back into a restless sleep.

_I was back at Camp Half Blood, just on the outskirts of the woods. I couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu. I had been here before. Again'st my own will my feet began moving farther into the woods. Try as I might, my feet had a destination in mind and inevitably I had no choice but to succumb to it. The farther I walked the older the trees became. I knew these trees were ancient, there were no nymphs in them. No one to help me. The thought scared me, why I would I be needing help? I walked farther. Eventually I found myself following a small stream. It was leading me somewhere, and I still had no idea where. The stream had ended into a small body of water. I don't know why, but I was compelled to look at my reflection. In the water I saw a girl who was too tall for her age and built like a baseball player. I had long light brown hair in a poorly kept ponytail down my back. My eyes were a frightening fiery red. Except those weren't my eyes, and I knew why I was here._

_Phobos smirked at me, his startlingly white teeth flashing in an evil smile. I didn't have time to wonder where Deimos was, he already had me by the neck. He shoved me down on the ground then instantly pulled me back up by my hair. And it fucking hurt. _

_"Hello _Clarisse." _He said my name with such disgust, I couldn't help but hate me too. "You're late." He snarled. 'Late for what?' I thought. He slapped me across the face, leaving a stinging mark across my cheek. Now I remembered. Initiation. __  
_

_I groaned in pain as Phobos kicked me in the ribs. The blows just kept coming, bruising every part of me. And I was too weak to fight back, too afraid. They showed me my greatest fears. Every single one until they figured out which one would make me scream. They were trying to break me. And it was working. Before I knew what was happening Deimos had me around the neck with one hand. He slammed my back into a tree, where the bark left splinters on my back. With one final hit to my temple, I fell to the ground. Both of them laughing because I was to weak to move. I was a girl. _

I woke up in a cold sweat, or at least what my dehydrated body could produce at the time. I shudder at the dream I remembered so vividly, it was a memory. One of many that I tried to forget, but for the life of me couldn't. Every moment, every _initiation_, was burned into my mind. A painful reminder of what awaited for me once I returned to Camp.

Initiation was something that was a tradition, of a sort, for my family, if I could even call them that. Women in my family were not respected because they were weak. They weren't as strong as men, and the couldn't fight as well as men. And that was what brought you respect. Women, to them, were useless. My demigod half-brothers weren't so bad most of the time. The could be super sexist at times but the never hurt me for the soul purpose of punishing me for being a female. My immortal brothers on the other hand, were a little old fashioned. They told me the only reason the did my initiation was because my father didn't want to waste his time with me. It happened on the first day every two months. Just enough time for me to gather my wits and push the memory aside, but never enough time for me to forget.

I was still breathing heavily and I hadn't heard the tremendous footsteps until they were right on top of me. I hadn't even realized I had hit land. I looked up and saw a Cyclopes, not friendly Bob-the-builder-Tyson kind of Cyclopes. But a real one. A 35 foot tall monster with a big milky eye smack dab in the middle of his grotesque face. He chuckled to himself when he saw me, and murmured something about a wedding dinner. Then he just laughed harder. It didn't even occur to me to use my sword before he grabbed me, his hand about the same length as my body.

"You're mine now demigod..." He laughed again.

Well, fuck.

~o~

**Yay I'm finally finished! Sorry this took so long, as I said before I'm doing my end of year exams so I'll be busy for a couple more days. Anyways I probably need to explain the "initiation" bit of this. While I was reading Miscarriage, great story by the way, I was inspired to add an initiation of my own twist in this. But figured that Ares would be to proud to actually come to Camp Half Blood himself, he would send somebody else to do his bidding; hence Phobos and Deimos who don't like Clarisse anyways. **

**I hope you liked this, it actually turned out pretty long. And I'm sorry if it was boring, I'm almost done with the quest part of the story so never fear. Remember to review I love hearing what you have to say!**


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